UN-Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called climate change the “defining challenge of our time” and in many countries the impacts of it are already felt. At the same time, it is still very difficult for many people not working directly on the subject to understand the basics of climate change. For example, which gases are actually contributing to the greenhouse gas effect? What temperature change is projected for this century? How does the international climate change negotiation process work? What adaptation and mitigation options are available and how to select the most adequate ones? Where does the financing come from? This free-of-charge e-learning course has been designed in order to provide answers to these and other basic questions about climate change.

The course modules have been developed and peer-reviewed through UN CC:Learn, a partnership of more than 30 multilateral organizations which supports Member States in designing and implementing results-oriented and sustainable learning to address climate change (www.uncclearn.org).

The course provides clear, concise and up-to-date information for anybody interested in obtaining a general understanding about climate change. After completing the course, participants will be able to:

Explain the fundamentals of climate change science.

Present the international climate change legal and policy framework and explain key issues under negotiation.

Describe the expected consequences of climate change and the role of adaptation.

Provide a rationale for climate change mitigation and propose actions in key sectors.

The course is self-paced and it is not moderated, and it has been divided into six modules provided to help you reach the overall learning objectives. The modules are self-standing and can be completed in any order; however, all six must be passed to receive a certificate of completion. Each module contains an interactive lesson and a quiz. The interactive lessons are provided with the purpose of achieving the 4 specific learning objectives per module, and contain 40-60 slides of content supported by case studies, videos, external links and exercises. A glossary of terms is also provided. The quizzes can be completed at any time. They assess the achievement of the learning objectives for each module. Each quiz can be attempted a maximum of three times. Once the six quizzes are passed with at least 70% each, the learner can download a certificate of completion from the course home page. Participants will be requested to provide feedback on the course by filling a feedback form which can be accessed in the ‘Certificate and Course Evaluation’ section on the course home page.

UN CC:Learn is a partnership of more than 30 multilateral organizations supporting countries to design and implement systematic, recurrent and results-oriented climate change learning. At the global level, the partnership supports knowledge-sharing, promotes the development of common climate change learning materials, and coordinates learning interventions through a collaboration of UN agencies and other partners. At the national level, UN CC:Learn supports countries in developing and implementing national climate change learning strategies. Through its engagement at the national and global levels, UN CC:Learn contributes to the implementation of Article 6 of the UNFCCC on training, education and public awareness-raising, and the 2012-2020 Doha Work Programme. Funding for UN CC:Learn is provided by the Swiss Government and UN partners. The Secretariat for UN CC:Learn is hosted by the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)